Take Me Down To The Water

You already know that we have Flamingo Road Church in Lima in a cinema complex, so that presents a challenge for us every time we want to have a baptism. It's not too common to find a baptistry in a cinema complex, and ours is no exception.

So what do we do here in Peru? We adapt. We get creative. We use the Pacific Ocean and the Amazon River for our baptisms.

Lima is located right on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, so when it's summertime here (January-April), we go to Playa Santa Maria ("St. Mary Beach") and we have our baptisms there. Peru features some of the biggest waves in the world, which is awesome for surfers, but a little bit dicey for baptisms, so we have to make sure to time each Pacific Ocean baptism perfectly, in between the crashing waves. The last time we were at Playa Santa Maria, we even baptized an 8-month-pregnant woman! (Hmm ... does that one count as a double?)

We've also gone into the jungle and had a baptism right in the Amazon River. Last March we were in a native community called Puerto Florido, in the heart of the Peruvian jungle, and we baptized 13 people, including 11 members of a native tribe called the Yaguas. Yes, the Amazon River is filled with anacondas, crocodiles, and piranhas, but I'm still here to blog about it. It was one of the most God-saturated days of my entire life.

You can watch videos of our Pacific Ocean and Amazon River baptisms by going to www.youtube.com and searching for "Flamingo Road Church."

Be creative with your baptisms. Don't be limited by the lack of a baptistry. Find a nearby lake, river, ocean, or other body of water. That's how Jesus did it 2,000 years ago, and it's worked out well for us here in Peru, too.